Payment Terms When Importing FMCG from Vietnam: T/T, L/C and Deposits Explained (2026)
In 2025, Vietnam’s import–export turnover passed US$930 billion, up 18.2% year on year (National Statistics Office of Vietnam, socio-economic report Q4 2025, 2026). Behind that number sit thousands of first-time importers wiring five-figure deposits to a supplier they’ve only met by email. The products are the easy part. The money is where deals get tense.
This guide walks through the payment terms you’ll actually be offered when buying FMCG from Vietnam — what’s standard, what’s negotiable, when a letter of credit earns its fees, and how to keep your transfer out of a fraudster’s account. It’s the companion to our full guide on how to import FMCG from Vietnam.
Key Takeaways
- The Vietnamese FMCG export standard: 50% deposit by T/T against a signed proforma invoice, balance before shipment.
- A letter of credit adds roughly 0.75–1.5% in issuance fees plus confirmation charges (Impello Global) — strong protection, heavy for a single mixed container.
- Business email compromise cost companies US$3.04 billion in 2025 (FBI IC3) — verify bank details by voice before every first transfer.
Import FMCG wholesale from Vietnam
Asia Grocery Co., Ltd. exports 160+ brands — beverages, food, home & personal care — to 50+ countries since 2010. Mix brands and categories in one container.
What Payment Terms Do Vietnamese FMCG Exporters Actually Offer?
The standard is simpler than most first-timers expect: a 50% deposit by international bank transfer (T/T) once the proforma invoice is confirmed, and the remaining 50% before the container ships. Letters of credit are accepted too, usually on larger orders. Those two instruments cover nearly every FMCG deal leaving Vietnam — a trade that reached US$930 billion in total turnover in 2025 (National Statistics Office of Vietnam, 2026).
Quotations are issued in US dollars and state unit prices, a validity period, delivery terms and estimated lead time. The order becomes real when both sides confirm a proforma invoice or sales contract. That document — not the email thread — defines what you’re paying, when, and against which bank account. The exact flow we use with every buyer is published on our payment terms & delivery page.
Why won’t exporters simply ship first and invoice later? Margins and distance. FMCG runs on thin percentages and full containers; an exporter who produces and ships US$30,000 of goods on a promise carries all of the risk with none of the recourse. Open account terms do exist in this trade — but they’re earned through order history, not offered on a first deal. A deposit-based structure splits the risk instead: you commit half, the exporter commits production, and the goods don’t sail until both sides have performed.
How Does the 50% T/T Deposit Actually Work?
A T/T order moves through eight checkpoints, and money changes hands at exactly two of them: the deposit and the balance. At Asia Grocery, the quotation lands within 24 hours on working days; every step after that is tied to a document or a photo, so you always know what you’ve paid for and what triggers the next payment.
The control document in this flow is the bill of lading. Your balance is paid against the B/L copy showing the goods are loaded; the original (or a telex release) then puts the container in your hands. Every document in that set — and which certificate cuts your import duty — is covered in our FMCG import documents checklist.
One practical habit worth copying: ask for loading photos as a standard deliverable, not a favour. We send production updates, loading photos and vessel tracking on every order until arrival — it costs the exporter minutes and saves the importer weeks of wondering.
When Should You Use a Letter of Credit Instead?
Use an L/C when the order is large enough that bank fees cost less than the risk you’d otherwise carry. The instrument itself is remarkably safe: the International Chamber of Commerce’s 2025 Trade Register, built on more than 47 million transactions worth over US$23 trillion, again found trade finance instruments among the lowest-risk in banking, with export L/C default rates declining across every measure (ICC, Trade Register Report 2025).
That protection has a price tag. Issuing banks typically charge 0.75–1.5% of the L/C value, confirming banks add 0.25–2% depending on country risk, and discrepancy fees apply every time a document doesn’t match the credit’s wording (Impello Global, A Beginner’s Guide to Letters of Credit in International Trade). Add days to weeks of bank lead time before production can even start.
Access is the quieter problem. As of December 2025, the Asian Development Bank puts the global trade finance gap at US$2.5 trillion, with 41% of SME requests for trade finance still rejected (ADB, Global Trade Finance Gap Survey, December 2025). Many small importers simply can’t get an L/C issued on acceptable terms — which is exactly why the 50/50 T/T structure remains the workhorse of the one-container FMCG trade.
| T/T (50% deposit) | Letter of credit | |
|---|---|---|
| Bank cost | Flat per-transfer wire fee | 0.75–1.5% issuance + 0.25–2% confirmation + discrepancy fees |
| Speed | Production starts when the deposit lands | Bank issuance adds days to weeks up front |
| Protection | Deposit at risk until loading — mitigated by verification and staged payment | Bank releases funds only against compliant documents |
| Paperwork | Proforma invoice + transfer instruction | Strict document compliance on both sides |
| Best for | First and repeat mixed-container orders | Six-figure orders and untested counterparties |
Where’s the crossover point? In our order book, a first mixed 20-foot container of FMCG typically invoices in the low-to-mid five figures. On an order that size, all-in L/C costs across both banks can approach or pass 3% once discrepancy and courier fees land — several hundred dollars spent to insure a deposit you could protect with verification instead. Above roughly US$100,000, or with a counterparty you can’t verify at all, the calculus flips and the L/C earns its keep.
How Do You Protect Yourself from Payment Fraud?
What’s the most expensive email in international trade? The one that says “our bank account has changed.” In 2025, business email compromise cost companies US$3.04 billion, with an average loss above US$122,000 per complaint — and 86% of those funds moved by wire transfer or ACH (FBI IC3, 2025 Internet Crime Report; Red Sift analysis, 2026).
The pattern is consistent. A fraudster gains access to one side’s mailbox — importer’s or exporter’s — and reads quietly for weeks. They strike at deposit or balance time with a doctored invoice carrying new bank details, from the exact thread you’ve been using all along. The email looks right because it is the real thread. Only the account number has changed.
Our rule at Asia Grocery is blunt: bank details appear only on the official proforma invoice, never loose in an email — and we ask every new buyer to verify the account by phone or WhatsApp before the first transfer. We don’t change bank accounts mid-order, and neither does any legitimate exporter without a voice conversation. That one habit defeats the overwhelming majority of BEC attempts.
Before you wire a deposit — the 4-point check
- Take bank details only from the official proforma invoice, never from a loose email.
- Verify the account by phone or video call, using a number you sourced independently — from the website, not the email signature.
- Match the beneficiary name to the exporter’s legal entity on the sales contract.
- Treat any mid-order “our bank changed” message as fraud until confirmed by voice.
What Do FOB and CIF Mean for Your Payment Total?
Under Incoterms® 2020, an FOB price covers the goods cleared for export and loaded on the vessel at a Vietnamese port — ocean freight and insurance are yours to arrange. CIF adds freight and marine insurance to your destination port in one number. Vietnamese FMCG exporters quote both routinely; other terms are available on request.
Which should you choose? FOB gives you control: your freight forwarder, your rate, your insurance terms — usually the better deal once you import regularly. CIF buys simplicity: one price to your port, no freight negotiation, easier to compare on a first order. Either way, your customs duty is calculated from the commercial invoice — and the matching Certificate of Origin can lower that duty under Vietnam’s 17 free trade agreements.
What Happens After You Pay?
Payment doesn’t end the exporter’s job — it starts the reporting. Between deposit and arrival you should never have to ask where your order is; the updates should come to you.
On our orders the rhythm looks like this: production photos as goods come off the line, loading photos as cartons go into the container, then the vessel name and tracking link once it sails. The balance is paid against the B/L copy; originals follow by courier, or a telex release skips the paper entirely on T/T orders. Mixed containers follow the same flow — you can consolidate home care, energy drinks and food lines from 160+ brands in one 20-foot box without changing a single payment step.
When the container lands, inspect promptly. Claims for quantity or visible defects go in writing with photos and inspection details, within the window stated in the sales contract — the specifics live in our terms of service. A clean claims trail matters more than most buyers expect: it’s what turns a first order into a supply relationship with better terms attached.
Get Your Terms in Writing Before Money Moves
Our quotations state USD prices, validity, Incoterms, lead time and the exact payment schedule — so terms are agreed before the deposit, not argued after the loading. Send your product list and destination port and you’ll have it within 24 hours on working days: request a wholesale quotation →
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I pay 100% after the goods arrive?
Not on a first order. The Vietnamese FMCG standard is a 50% deposit with the balance before shipment; open account terms are earned through order history. An exporter shipping US$30,000 of goods on a promise carries all the risk — deposit terms split it between both sides.
What currency are quotations issued in?
US dollars. A proper export quotation states unit prices, a validity period, delivery terms under Incoterms® 2020 and estimated lead time. Treat a quote without a validity period or Incoterm as a red flag — those two lines are what make the price comparable.
How long does a T/T transfer take?
An international SWIFT transfer typically arrives in one to three working days, depending on the corridor and correspondent banks. Production is scheduled once funds land, not when the transfer is sent — so build those days into your lead-time planning.
Do Vietnamese exporters accept PayPal or credit cards?
Not for container orders. Card and PayPal processing costs of 3–4% are unworkable on FMCG margins, and neither offers document-based protection at container values. T/T and L/C remain the two standard instruments — the same pair the ICC’s 47-million-transaction Trade Register tracks.
Can repeat buyers negotiate better payment terms?
Yes. Deposit percentages and balance timing are negotiated once there’s a track record — typically after several clean orders. In 2025, 41% of SME trade finance requests were still rejected by banks (ADB), so a trusted supplier relationship is often the cheapest credit line an importer has.
Sources
- National Statistics Office of Vietnam, Socio-economic situation in the fourth quarter and 2025, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.nso.gov.vn/en/data-and-statistics/2026/01/socio-economic-situation-in-the-fourth-quarter-and-2025/
- International Chamber of Commerce, ICC Trade Register Report 2025, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://iccwbo.org/news-publications/report/icc-trade-register-report/
- Impello Global, A Beginner’s Guide to Letters of Credit in International Trade, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.impelloglobal.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-letters-of-credit-in-international-trade
- Asian Development Bank, ADB Global Trade Finance Gap Survey, December 2025, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.adb.org/publications/adb-global-trade-finance-gap-survey
- FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2025_IC3Report.pdf
- Red Sift, FBI IC3 2025 report: Email fraud is now a $4 billion problem, retrieved 2026-07-15, https://redsift.com/blog/fbi-ic3-2025-report-email-fraud
